Location Location Location! This old real estate adage also applies to renting a holiday villa in Italy! Here are four factors to consider when renting a villa in Italy!
A wonderful Italian friend of mine once offered me her beautiful Tuscan villa for a holiday rent free for my family and of course I readily jumped at the chance to work for two months from Tuscany.
The historical villa was magnificent – a three story, five bedroomed palace on acres of land with frescos on the ceiling. I had previously seen it in summer but in winter it was a completely different story.
However the greatest drawback we came to discover was the location. It was near the most boring and ugliest village in the whole of Italy with no decent shops and to go anywhere interesting for the children, took 1.5 hrs to drive and we spent over 3 hours driving each day which proved to be exhausting.
Being winter, firewood was in short supply in the village and we nearly froze to death. It snowed and eventually had to leave because all the pipes froze over and we had no water. The villa was also haunted (however I did not tell my children that.!!)
Do you have a group of friends who all want to book a villa in Italy together?
There are hundreds of beautiful Villas on the net. Location is probably the most important factor as eight people will not wish to be in an isolated area where you have to drive miles to a restaurant every day and night. Remember the cheaper places often are quite remote.
1. Nearest Town
What part of Italy do I wish to be in – there are 21 regions – e.g. don’t go to a region just because it is a lovely house – find out what the nearest town is like and the surrounding towns are like.
2. Activities and Things to see
Do you like the coast and lakes for swimming or country and mountains for walking – e.g If you all get bored in the country make sure you are near a busy tourist town.
3. Shops & Restaurants
Do you want to be near a pretty village or easy access to eating out and shops e.g. make sure the nearest town is a not an industrial center. Find out how long it takes to drive to some of the famous tourist centers as well as the nearest supermarket.
4. Driving and Transport
Will driving be difficult in the area if you are not used to driving on the Italian roads eg in the Chianti area – there are some very windy hilltop roads – Amalfi coast & Cinque Terre driving is not for the faint hearted or inexperienced drivers ( Amalfi can be a nightmare due to narrow cliff edged roads and hairpin turns).
Passion for Italy Travel knows our villas and their owners. We can tell you what it is like, where it is and how to get there.
Let us do the research for you or phone us to enquire about one of our villas and we will describe it.